


Eye of the Tiger

by Brumeier



Series: Monster Fest [1]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: ushobwri, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Slash, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-02-19 21:02:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2402765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a 'jumper crash John is sure he's hallucinating. There aren't any tigers in the Pegasus galaxy...are there?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eye of the Tiger

**Author's Note:**

> Written for shapeshifter week of Monster Fest over at the [You Should Be Writing](http://ushobwri.livejournal.com/) comm on LJ.

[ ](http://s229.photobucket.com/user/mommybruno/media/Title%20Cards/EyeoftheTiger.jpg.html)

* * *

The tiger was probably a hallucination, the result of head trauma or possibly hallucinatory native fauna. John had seen a lot of things since coming to the Pegasus galaxy but the distinctive orange-and-black striped cats weren’t among them. He normally didn’t pay much attention to what Rodney called the soft sciences, but he had eyes and he could see as well as anyone that at this end of the wormhole there was no species crossover with the Milky Way galaxy. Well, except for humans.

There were definitely no tigers, he was sure of that. And yet one was approaching through the high grass, making its way slowly but steadily in John’s direction. There wasn’t much he could do about it. He’d managed to drag himself to the nearest tree – second only to the ‘jumper crash in terms of physical agony, thanks to the multiple fractures in his right leg – but that was as far as he was going. Unfortunately he’d had to leave his tac vest behind, and his P90, but he still had his pistol strapped to his leg. Firing it with his dumb hand, that was another question; he was pretty sure his wrist was broken.

John was tired, and hurting, but he kept his eye on the tiger’s approach. He could only imagine what Rodney might say…but then, he hadn’t been able to find Rodney in the wreckage, not that he was in much of a position to look. When he’d come to after the crash he’d heard Rodney moaning, heard other sounds he couldn’t place. There’d been no response to any of his frantic calls, and he chose to not think about what that meant. He was good at ignoring things that were too painful to face.

When the tiger was just a few feet away it stopped, tail swinging from side to side as it studied him. The animal was enormous, easily eight feet including the tail, and at least four hundred pounds. That close up John had an excellent view of the tiger’s powerful musculature, its enormous paws, and the piercing blue eyes that seemed to be staring right at him. Again, John was no zoologist but he was pretty sure those eyes were supposed to be amber.

“Hey, buddy.” John casually reached across and fumbled with the thigh holster. It made his breath catch, which probably meant he had at least one busted rib. “Nice kitty.”

The tiger chuffed in response, its head bobbing up and down. For a hallucination it was incredibly realistic, down to the wind ruffling through its fur and the scent of animal musk. John finally retrieved his pistol and held it loosely in his lap.

“I don’t want to shoot you, but I can’t let you eat me either.”

The tiger dropped down on its belly and started a slow crawl. It was a very submissive display which only confused John. He kept a firm grip on his pistol, flipping off the safety, but his curiosity was definitely aroused. Not to mention it was a good distraction from the sharp pains and duller aches that were fighting for dominance over most of his body.

It took fully five minutes for the tiger to creep into John’s personal space. It kept its head down, chuffing periodically, and when it was right in front of John it unexpectedly rolled over on its back, exposing a wide expanse of white furred belly. This was clearly a submissive display, even John could recognize that.

“Okay. So, friendly tiger?”

The animal chuffed again and flipped back over, slinking close until its massive head came to rest on John’s unbroken leg. Its tongue lolled out and swiped at John’s hand.

“Not to be critical, but this doesn’t seem like normal tiger behavior.” It also was feeling much too real to be a hallucination.

The tiger squinted up at him and took another taste of his hand. John found himself inexplicably close to tears and had to fight the urge to wrap his arms around the warm, furry body and take some comfort from it.

There was a deep rumble, not quite a growl, and then the tiger moved surprisingly quickly for such a large beast, moving around to John’s side. It sat up, submissive display over, and began licking determinedly at John’s head, its rough tongue dragging along his skin. It hurt a little – he had a gash along his hairline – but part of him didn’t mind the grooming behavior. It was nice not being alone.

He drifted for a while, the tiger a warm presence along his side. He didn’t let himself think about Rodney’s continued absence, or whether Atlantis would send a rescue party before one of his broken ribs punctured a lung and he drowned on his own blood. He was quite happy not thinking about anything at all.

The next thing John knew was bright, white pain. While he’d been in mental la-la land help had arrived and he was being strapped to a backboard. He could feel the bones in his broken leg grinding against each other and had to bite his lip to keep from embarrassing himself in front of his Marines.

“Jesus, easy with him! Can’t you see he’s in pieces?”

John’s eyes popped open and he blinked the world back into focus. “Rodney?”

“Another fine mess you’ve gotten us into, Major.” Rodney was right beside him, holding his hand and looking down at him with a very worried expression. “I thought you were supposed to be some kind of pilot wunderkind.”

John knew he should respond with the appropriate banter, but all he could do was stare. Rodney’s uniform was torn and blood-stained, but the man himself looked completely untouched. More tellingly he wasn’t complaining on his own behalf.

“Is Carson ready for him?” Rodney barked at the field medic. “Tell him to be in the Gate room.”

“We’ve got it covered, Dr. McKay.”

“Rodney?” John said again. “How?”

“Not now,” Rodney replied. He stayed by John’s side as the backboard was lifted and moved into the back of the ‘jumper, and then in a very non-Rodney fashion got down on the floor so he could sit right next to John.

“Atlantis, we’re ten minutes out. Over.” The Marines loaded up and they were airborne in seconds.

“Can you give him a sedative or a painkiller or something?” Rodney asked. “He’s in a lot of pain.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. McKay, but we can’t give him anything until he’s had a full exam. Under certain circumstances they could do more harm than good.”

“Fine. Whatever. I’m sure he loves the opportunity to be heroically stoic.”

John wanted to ask about the tiger, but he couldn’t be sure he didn’t dream the whole thing. And there was no sense giving his men anything to use against him; he could already hear the jokes.

“Hey, Major, relax. It’s okay. You’ll be in Carson’s evil clutches before you know it.”

John hadn’t realized he was panting and tried to stop, but the pain in his leg was getting too hard to ignore. Rodney’s hand tightened on his and John was grateful for having that to focus on.

“Here’s an interesting fact I bet you didn’t know,” Rodney whispered, bending down so that his lips almost brushed John’s ear. “Tigers have antiseptic saliva, which means that if you had any open wounds and happened to be lucky enough to have a tiger lick them, that would act as a disinfectant until you could get some actual medical attention.”

John gaped at him. That wasn’t a coincidence, especially since Rodney wasn’t usually forthcoming with information outside of his areas of expertise. Rodney knew about the tiger. But that wasn’t quite right either, and admittedly John’s head was getting more muddled by the moment, but the thought that popped up couldn’t possibly be right.

And yet…there were Rodney’s clear blue eyes looking down at him. Familiar blue eyes, possibly last seen surrounded by white fur.

“Not a hallucination?” John whispered.

“It’s a long and semi-fascinating story, Major. I’ll be sure to tell you all about it once you’re pain free.”

“Thank you,” John replied. He meant it for more than just the promise of an unbelievable story, but for also being there to comfort him when he most needed it. Rodney seemed to understand. He grinned down at John with that familiar, crooked grin and made a noise that sounded very much like the chuff of a big Bengal tiger.

**Author's Note:**

> When I was contemplating possible animals for Rodney to shift into, this was the one I kept coming back to. Orange (like the infamous fleece!), powerful, and incredibly intelligent. Tigers are pretty fascinating, as I learned, and I thought it fit Rodney so well.
> 
> All my tiger knowledge comes from the internet, as I'm not lucky enough to know any in real life. ::grins::


End file.
